Soggy storm en route

Wednesday, Jan. 22, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.

A winter storm warning was in effect today above 7,000 feet in the Sierra, where nearly 2 feet of snow fell since the snow began on Tuesday. Snow was falling today at a rate of 2 inches an hour on Donner Summit.

The National Weather Service said additional accumulations of up to 30 inches were possible at the higher elevations, whipped to blizzard conditions by powerful winds today before the storm pushed out of the region by nightfall.

The snow and the winds made driving miserable across mountain roads. Chains or snow tires were required on all trans-Sierra highways today, including Interstate 80 over Donner Summit, the Mount Rose Highway southwest of Reno and U.S. 50. Chains were mandatory over the summits on both I-80 and U.S. 50.

A high wind warning was posted for the valleys of western Nevada through the morning.

Steady winds to nearly 60 mph were reported in Washoe Valley south of Reno, where a peak gust of 74 mph was clocked late Tuesday.

Rain was expected in the Reno-Carson City area with snow levels estimated at 6,500 feet with 4-8 inches of snow possible today above 7,000 feet.

The weather service said the rain could increase snowmelt slightly, but far less than the unusually warm New Year's storm that spawned flooding across the region.

"We're not forecasting anywhere near a 10,000-foot snow level like happened on New Year's Day," said Roger Lamoni of the weather service. "There's a huge difference. We think we're going to be okay."

Lamoni, the warning coordination meteorologist for the Reno office of the weather service, said the combination of the rain, the snow pack and the soggy soil could increase runoff in some small streams, but far less than three weeks ago.

"As opposed to having a river problem, we'd be more concerned with some of the washes and creeks out of the mountains ... where the problems are much more localized and typically don't last nearly as long. In relation to river flooding, there's an order of magnitude difference," he said.

In another departure from the drenching three weeks ago, the latest surge was to give way to cloudy skies on Thursday and Friday with the next chance of valley rain and mountain snow moving in for the weekend.